Participation in workforce lower for Canadian moms

OTTAWA — Fewer Canadian mothers — especially those with young children — participate in the job market compared to moms in many wealthy countries, says a newly released internal federal analysis.

The Finance Department briefing note, prepared after the Liberals took power, also found that the workforce participation rates of Canadian mothers varied considerably depending on the province.

The document explored the link between child-care support and the involvement of women in the labour market.

It was created after last year’s election campaign, during which the Liberals vowed to work with provinces, territories and indigenous communities to draw up a national framework on early learning and child care.

The Trudeau government’s first spring budget committed $500 million in 2017-18 toward the framework’s creation.

The Liberals have promised the initiative would avoid a “one-sizefits-all” national program, and instead consider the approaches used by different jurisdictions across Canada.

The government’s detailed internal analysis, “The impact of child care support on women’s labour force participation,” provides information that could add valuable context to such discussions.

Based on 2013 data, it said the employment rate for “prime-aged” Canadian women — between 25 to 54 years old — with kids younger than 15 years old was 75 per cent.

That number placed Canada ninth among fellow member countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a Paris-based think tank.

“Canadian women with children are less involved in the labour market than women in many OECD countries,” said the partially redacted briefing note, obtained recently by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

By province, the document said that maternal labour force participation was, in most cases, lower in provinces with higher child-care costs — with some exceptions.